Report finds rampant antisemitism in Dutch schools

A report written by a Dutch Jewish journalist, Margalith Kleijwegt, at the request of the Dutch Ministry of Education, found that there is rampant antisemitism within Dutch schools, especially amongst Muslim students.

The report, entitled “Two Worlds, Two Realities – How do you deal with it as a teacher?” gave many examples of antisemitism within the classroom, as recounted by teachers. In one example a student stood up and threatened to “gun down all Jews” with a rifle. In another example, in Amsterdam a female student of Moroccan descent stood up and pronounced: “If I had a Kalashnikov [assault rifle], I’d gun down all the Jews.”

The report found that some teachers feel they have no influence over students who have deep-seated prejudices against other students especially against Jews.

Kleijwegt wrote in the report, “Antisemitic behaviour is a recurrent problem in some schools. Some see it as a provocation [by pupils], others fear it goes deeper: that pupils receive anti-Jewish attitudes at home.”

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Antisemitism is rearing its ugly head across the world, as increasing numbers of Jews face physical and verbal attacks. Many of these attacks go unreported. Everyday Antisemitism is a project of Campaign Against Antisemitism which invites Jews to share their everyday experiences of antisemitism instead of suffering in silence and allowing some to question whether antisemitism is a real problem. If you have witnessed or been the victim of antisemitism, either in person or online, you can now share your experiences, or if you can spare two or more hours a week, join our team of volunteer correspondents who write up incident reports.